Mugiwara One-Shot Series
by Lust of Alucard
Summary: Innocence is lost. Valuable lessons are learnt. Skills are refined. Sometimes all you need is your own strength, no ethereal pineapples or oranges required. This will be a series of chronologically ordered one shots, glimpses of Luffy's adventure in my re-imagining of One piece. Details inside. Strong!Luffy. Smart!Luffy. Serious!Luffy. (These adjectives are not for show)
1. Prologue - Origins

**PROLOGUE(s)**

 ** _FOOSHA VILLAGE, EAST BLUE._**

 _It was a quaint, sleepy little village, tucked away back into the corner of the Goa kingdom. Its inhabitants were a simple and quiet folk, consisting of mostly farmers and small time traders. No one ever paid a second glance at it._

"TO LITTLE ANCHOR!"

 _Err, I think I spoke too soon._

 _Why? You see, it wasn't so quiet OR sleepy anymore._

"TO LUFFY'S BRAVERY!"

"KANPAI!"

The island was also the home of little Monkey D. Luffy, who, a few minutes ago had stabbed himself below his left eye with a small dagger. This was much to the astonishment and horror of a particular group of pirates, who had been using Foosha as their base for a year now.

They were all congregated at the Partys Bar, the go-to establishment in the village for any kind of celebration. They were celebrating Luffy's bravery, or rather, his impetuousness.

Luffy was currently seated beside a straw-hatted, red haired man who was sipping on his brew.

This was Red-Haired Shanks, the captain of the Red Haired Pirates, one of the most fearsome crews in the Grand Line. Shanks had rubbed shoulders with some of the more renowned names on the seas. He had also been a cabin boy on the crew of Roger Pirates.

Not that anyone would know all that, the way he was acting. The pirate with a Billion Beli plus bounty was busy pulling his little friend's leg, much to the amusement of his crew.

"Now you have to take me with you Shanks!"

"Luffy, you're too young to become a pirate. Plus you don't even know how to swim! What good is a pirate who can't swim?"

"Swim? Who wants to swim?! I can kick ass! That is all I need!" Luffy's smile was ear-to-ear wide.

Shanks turned to face him. "Why do you want to become a pirate so badly, Luffy?"

Luffy's face grew excited as he thought furiously for a few seconds. "Adventure, Shanks! I want to go on adventures, meet people and see new places!"

Shanks smiled. "Oh? And have lots of treasure, surely?"

Luffy nodded determinedly. "Yes! So that I can pay Makino back. I have a treasure tab here! I'm going to pay her back when I am a great pirate!"

Shanks smile grew into a grin as Makino smiled and rubbed Luffy's hair. "But I'm still not going to take you with us, Anchor!"

The whole bar erupted into laughter as Luffy grew even more irritated.

Whatever Luffy was about to say was interrupted as a tall, shifty looking man made his way into the tavern followed by a group of even _more_ tall, shifty looking people.

"Oooooh! This place smells rank!"

He looked around. "Right. Must be because of all these sorry looking pirates here. Pirates. Hmph!"

He took a drag of his cigar.

"My name's Higuma 'THE BEAR'. I'm a mountain bandit with an Eight Million Beli bounty and a kill count of fifty-six."

He took out a poster, embellished with his name and bounty and proceeded to the counter, where Shanks was still sipping his drink and Makino was looking at the new entrant with a jaundiced eye.

"Give me some sake, eh, pretty girl? I and my men are thirsty." He eyed Makino from head to eye in a way that had Shanks tighten his grip on his bottle.

"Sorry sir, but we don't have any. We just finished our stock yesterday."

Higuma eyed Shanks and the bottle he was gripping. "What's this then, eh? You'll serve this insignificant pirate but not a handsome strapping man like me?"

The faces of the Red Haired crew were mostly hidden in shadow, their expressions unreadable.

Luffy wasn't paying attention. He had just found a weird, purple fruit in a box next to Lucky Roo. Stomach growling, he was about to ram the fruit into his mouth when it was taken from his hands by Higuma. He then proceeded to look at the fruit closely.

"Hey! Gimme that! It's not yours, you basta-!" Luffy's words were drowned out by a kick to the face which sent him crashing down to the floor. Higuma spat at him and turned to face his crew.

"Fuck off, brat! Look what we have here boys! A Devil Fruit and a pretty girl! All in one place!"

He eyed Makino again, while Benn Beckmann, Yassop and Lucky Roo had one hand on their pistols. Shanks turned one eye at them, softly shaking his head.

They sat down, calming at the signal from their captain. Lucky Roo picked up Luffy from the ground and pushed him out of harm's way.

Higuma didn't notice.

"Perhaps I'll sell the fruit and keep the lass for me, eh?" He leered at Makino and smirked. "Or sell both! I hear the slave market is pretty active these days! Let's go, pretty girl. "

He took a swipe at Makino, intending to drag her out with him, only to be stopped by Shanks' grip on his arm.

"Let go."

Higuma paused, shaking Shanks off.

"What did you say, pirate?"

Shanks was unmoving, expression shadowed by his straw hat. A sudden chill had crept into the air.

"I said, let go. And Leave. You have no idea who you're dealing with here."

Higuma blinked, and then laughed uproariously, his crew along with him. "No idea who I'm dealing with? All I know that you're bunch of fuckers and cowards. Stay out of my way, loser pirate."

He took out his pistol and aimed it at Shanks.

"Grab the lady, Boys! While I finish this _pretend_ pirate off!"

His men moved forwards, only for the chill in the air to intensify. Shanks had stood up and fixed gazes with Higuma.

"Are you prepared, bandit?"

Shanks voice was a soft rumble and _something_ told Higuma to take a step back. He didn't though.

"Eh? For what? To kill you?"

"No. To put _your_ head on the line."

Ben, Yassop and the rest had drawn their weapons.

"Now that you have drawn your weapon _and assaulted_ my friends, are _you_ prepared put everything you have on the line? Are you willing to face the consequences?"

Luffy, who had somewhat regained his senses, stared at Shanks, awed.

"No?"

Shanks tilted his head questionably, then gave a single nod at his crew.

The bar erupted into chaos. Gunfire sounded, filling the tavern with smoke. For all of five seconds, all one could hear were the echoes of screams and the thumps of bodies hitting the floor. Higuma went to help, only for Shanks to grab his shoulder and _press down._

A _crack_ of breaking bone and the accompanying cry of pain was lost in the din.

When the smoke cleared, all one could see were bodies, and people standing amongst them. Silence.

Shanks nodded at his crew.

"Take the trash out. Makino-chan doesn't need filth in her bar."

In five minutes, the place was clean of the bodies.

Higuma was shaking now. _His men were dead, killed like flies! Who the bloody hell were these people! And why did he have to run into them!_ He tried to run, but Shanks stomped down on a leg.

Another _crack_ of breaking bone, this time heard by everyone, echoed around in the tiny tavern.

Shanks motioned to Yassop. "Close the door. No one outside needs to see this."

Yassop did. Makino winced and put her hands over her mouth. Luffy was staring at the proceedings, open mouthed. Shanks turned to Higuma, who was moaning in pain and fear.

"Firstly." He reached into Higuma's pockets, drawing out the Devil Fruit. "It is impolite, and _dangerous_ to steal another man's treasure without a fight."

Shanks put the fruit into the box, tossing it to Roo.

"Secondly. _Eight Million?_ Take a look at this."

A poster was brandished in front of the bandit. The poster was of Shanks, and the figure below it had Higuma staring wide eyed _and_ pissing himself in front of everyone.

Shanks grimaced at the now spreading puddle, but nodded. He then put his pistol to the forehead of the hapless bandit chief, who was sweating and shaking like crazy by now.

A shot rang through the air, Higuma's body jerking in response. The floor behind him was sprayed red. The dull **_thunk_** of the body hitting the floor echoed around the still silence.

Makino flinched and closed her eyes, shaking. Luffy stood still in shock. His world had changed within the space of a few minutes.

"Makino-chan, Luffy. I'm sorry you had to see that." Shanks' eyes were shadowed, his emotions concealed beneath the brim of his straw hat.

 **-X-**

 ** _A week later…_**

Luffy stood in front of Shanks, his eyes red and watery. His nose was leaking snot. The Red Hair Pirates were ready to cast off.

"Do you really have to go, Shanks?"

Shanks smiled softly at Luffy. The critter had made himself a soft corner in Shanks' heart in a very short time.

"Sorry, Anchor. We'll have to go. Our staying here will bring a lot of unwanted attention to this place. Plus, I'm really sorry that you had to see me like that." He said, referring to the events in the previous week.

Luffy shook his head.

"No Shanks. You saved Makino-chan and me. You made me see that it's not all fun and games." Luffy wiped snot off his nose before he continued. "I'll always remember you, Shanks. I'll be as awesome as you someday."

Shanks blinked, amused. "Oh? As good as me?"

He took his hat off, letting it rest on Luffy's head.

"Keep this hat safe for me then, will you Luffy? Return it to me when you are on the top of the world."

Benn approached, carrying a long, thin case and a small bag. Shanks took it from him and handed it to Luffy, who was still in shock from receiving the Straw Hat from Shanks.

"I had always planned to give this to you, Anchor." He opened the case, inside which rested a sword and its sheath. The bag contained a couple of books.

Luffy's eyes popped out.

The sword, a _chokuto_ to be precise, was a slim and straight instrument of death. It had no guard, the blade and the handle combined without separation. The blade was a dull matte grey, with the grain in the metal slowly transitioning to a gleaming silver across the width of the sword to a single, sharpened edge. The other edge remained blunt. The waves in the metal, which had formed during the tempering process mesmerized Luffy. The sword itself was about forty inches in length, the handle being eleven inches and the blade making up the rest. The handle was wrapped in a hardy deep-red leather. The sheath was made of polished wood, with fastenings for both shoulder and waist carrying purposes.

All in all, it was a work of art.

Shanks smiled as Luffy took the sword in his hands and admired it.

"This is my first blade, Luffy. It isn't a named sword, but is considered as one of the Twenty One Ō Wazamono grade swords. It is the only unnamed sword of this quality. This and my hat, were given to me by my captain. I outgrew it, becoming more used to a _katana_ , but this blade remains very dear to me. They're two of my most treasured possessions. I bequeath both of them to you, in hope that you'll eventually fulfil my captain's dream."

Luffy looked at Shanks, excitement replaced by curiosity.

"Who was your captain Shanks?"

Shanks smirked. "Oh. It was Gol D. Roger, the Pirate King."

"NAAAAAAAAANNNNIIIIIIII!"

Shanks laughed and gestured at the bag.

"Oh yeah. And the books are something of a pet project of mine. Over the years, I wrote down my thoughts on what it meant to be a pirate. It's sort of my personal Log book, just without the details of the places I visited. There's a lot of useful stuff in it. And there's a book on swordsmanship, written by _a dear friend of mine_. Marines use it as a manual, but this particular copy is a lot more detailed, as it was personally gifted to me. Use them well Luffy, because the next time we meet, it'll be in the Grand Line."

Luffy was wide eyed as Shanks patted his hair and walked away towards his ship. He sniffled, before eventually screaming his little lungs out.

"I'll train myself to surpass you Shanks! I'll fulfil Roger's dream if it's the last thing I do! I'll be the Pirate King!"

His voice washed over the Red Haired Pirates, carrying a hint of _something_ that made the lesser members of the crew dizzy. Shanks and Benn on the ship, felt their eyes widen as the beginnings of Luffy's potent willpower made itself known. They turned to each other, smirking.

"Well captain, looks like Anchor is going to be BIG someday."

"I know Benn."

Shanks looked at the crying child, waving at them from the shores as the ship of the Red haired Pirates pulled away.

 _'It won't be long before Luffy makes himself known. After all, you can't tie a KING down. Looks like I found your successor, Captain.'_

 **-X-**

 ** _A FEW YEARS LATER, FOOSHA VILLAGE, EAST BLUE._**

 _We return to the sleepy little village. Its inhabitants were still a simple folk. Ever since Red Haired Shanks had left, the village had been quiet. Now, more than ever, no one paid a second glance at it._

 **"BOOM!"**

 _Err, I spoke too soon. Again._

A galleon of respectable size with a Jolly Roger had shot another cannon ball that mercifully fell short of any life or property on the island. Who these buccaneers were is not important, as you will soon see.

"Move closer! Fire again!"

"Aye-Aye Captain!"

 **"BOOM!"**

 **"BOOM!"**

Perhaps, the pirates wouldn't have been as hasty as they were being if they had known that the isle was under the protection of a Marine Vice Admiral, who was currently holidaying there.

"Garp-san! Help!"

This particular, now very angry, Vice Admiral had been interrupted during his booze session at the Partys Bar by a panicked villager who had seen the first rounds of fire at the beach.

"Pirates! And they are firing at us!"

That had been all as Garp had crushed his tumbler into fine dust.

"Grrrrrrrrr. Can't a man drink in peace when he's on his holiday?!"

It was a rhetorical question, but Garp grumbled as he marched out onto the beach, where the ship's cannons were getting uncomfortably within range.

 **"BOOM!"**

Monkey D. Luffy was still on the island, and at this moment, was hiding behind a boulder as his grandpa, Monkey D. Garp prepared to massacre the pirate ship that had made the mistake of firing a cannon ball – or several – at the island.

Luffy's tiny figure, a straw hat perched on his head, watched as his Grandpa uprooted a nearby Pine as high as the mast of the oncoming pirate ship with ease. Small black eyes bulged out the show of strength as the Vice Admiral launched the behemoth of a missile at his foe with a single flick of his elbow. It soon disappeared from sight as it sped forward like a heat seeking warhead, targeting the ship from more than a mile away. The resulting sonic boom kicked up an enormous spray of water and left a few villagers permanently deaf.

Luffy squealed in wonderment as he saw his beloved gramps take out a whole pirate crew without a single punch exchanged.

 _'Wow! Gramps is awesome!'_

Yes, Shanks was awesome. The Devil Fruit he had almost eaten was awesome. Lucky Roo, Yassop and Benn were awesome and he himself was awesome too! But nothing beat his gramps' strength!

The pirate ship continued firing as it sailed closer. When-

"What's that small dot?" That was the lookout on the starboard side.

"I don't know, but it's growing _larger._ " That was his crew mate.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! INCOMING!" That was the entire crew.

The poor pirates in question were left screaming in abject terror as the forty metre long, super thick tree pierced through their ship with ease. The ship _flipped_ onto its port side, lifted almost a couple of feet clean into the air by the sheer power of Garp's throw. The resulting impact was enough to rip the vessel in two.

Grandfather, grandson and the thankful villagers were left to watch as the ship sunk in the distance, dragging down its ill-fated inhabitants with it.

Garp sighed and turned to his grandson, only to take a step back in surprise. "Luffy?"

Luffy's eyes were huge circles shining in awe, stars visible in them in a confined imitation of a galaxy. His nose was leaking snot and his mouth was opened as wide as it could go. He was also hopping in little circles around a bemused Garp. All in all, this was easily the most excited and gleeful Garp had seen his little grandson, ever since he had met that rascal _Red-Haired-menace-of-a-pirate_.

"Ne, Gramps! Teach me how to do that!"

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTES: (Please read to know what to expect from this pile of jargon I'm trying to add to in the future)**

 **I got into the OP fandom pretty late, at which point there was an absolute plethora of material to pick through. Manga, Anime, databooks, Wikipedia, pretty awesome Fan fiction and all. After some digging, I decided to concoct a small Two Shot (it's there on my profile) which was frankly, a parody. It featured a SUPER! Luffy with an absolute Monster! of a Devil Fruit. It was high on action and very poor in detail and character development. It was factually incorrect in many places, as I came to know afterwards.**

 **I like to think it was pretty well received. :D**

 **Then for some purist action, I decided to download the whole freaking manga till volume 77. (21GB worth of cbr files!) Anime, I found was a little slow paced for me. (Though I still watch it for the main action.)**

 **So, my hunger not satisfied, I decided to do an Origin Story. One that would add itself to the countless others already on this site. You know, the one which every author dreams of doing? The one where Luffy has a different beginning? Different DF (A realistic one this time), different attitude, the whole retelling of the OP-verse, the whole nine yards?**

 **Yeah, about that. *Hides in a corner***

 **I realized after 15k words of content (that I had rewritten, restructured and formatted over a course of two months or so) that there was no possible way on earth that I could do justice to a whole novel-style retelling of One Piece. The amount of back-stories and character development that Oda had weaved into this epic had me astounded.**

 **What with leaving my full time (12hr-workday) job and getting ready to start at a b-school, I realized that the only way to do this would be to dodge the detailed back story and character building, and concentrate on the action. This I would do in the form of chronologically ordered one shots and indulge in my fantasies of One Piece. Hehe.**

 **So if you're still interested in this version of Luffy (with all the above mentioned shortcomings in the narrative), hit me with whatever feedback you have. May get my brain-synapses firing.**

 **Lust of Alucard.**


	2. Chapter 1 - Coby

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

* * *

 ** _Last Time..._**

 ** _The poor pirates in question were left screaming in abject terror as the forty metre long, super thick tree pierced through their ship with ease. The ship flipped onto its port side, lifted almost a couple of feet clean into the air by the sheer power of Garp's throw. The resulting impact was enough to rip the vessel in two._**

 ** _Grandfather, grandson and the thankful villagers were left to watch as the ship sunk in the distance, dragging down its ill-fated inhabitants with it._**

 ** _Garp sighed and turned to his grandson, only to take a step back in surprise. "Luffy?"_**

 ** _Luffy's eyes were huge circles shining in awe, stars visible in them in a confined imitation of a galaxy. His nose was leaking snot and his mouth was opened as wide as it could go. He was also hopping in little circles around a bemused Garp. All in all, this was easily the most excited and gleeful Garp had seen his little grandson, ever since he had met that rascal Red-Haired-menace-of-a-pirate._**

 ** _"Ne, Gramps! Teach me how to do that!"_**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 1 - Coby**

 **Years later…**

A nondescript little dinghy sailed amongst the calm waters of East Blue. On it was a peacefully dozing seventeen year old. A shock of messy black hair was obscured beneath a well-worn but still relatively pristine straw hat. A weathered face, a scar under his left eye and a muscle-bound frame made for a relatively good looking man. He wore a full sleeved red button-down, a pair of black trousers, a yellow sash wrapped around his waist and a black captain's overcoat. A small flintlock and a slim, sheathed _chokuto_ at his waist summed up the profile of Monkey D. Luffy as he drifted about aimlessly.

A huge shadow underneath the surface moved, sensing the nearby human and looking for an easy meal.

Luffy was shaken into wakefulness at the harder than usual jolt to the craft. Index finger digging debris out of an eye and little finger hard at work in the corresponding nostril, he stretched wearily as he glanced about, spotting a single fin rising out of the water.

The Sea King was two hundred feet away when the fin split the surface and was followed by a gargantuan body. A gaping mouth full of razor sharp teeth, each the size of ten full gown men charged towards Luffy, ready to swallow him whole.

 ** _A fact or two about Luffy._**

 ** _He also eats quite a lot, and at all sorts of odd times._**

 ** _He's a little lazy._**

 ** _He's also strong enough to take on more than Ten Sea Kings this size at a time and win easily._**

Luffy sighed as the creature neared closer.

 _'Well, I had to say good bye to this dinghy soon, so why not now?'_

 **"Geppo!"**

His disappeared from his position, only to appear fifty feet above the Sea King as it chomped down on the small craft. Wood and rubber flew everywhere while the Sea King paused, missing the taste of fresh flesh in its mouth.

Luffy's shout caught its attention soon enough. "HEY BIG ASS FISHY GUY!"

The massive head turned to see its prey high up, kicking away at thin air. Each blurred _Geppo_ from Luffy sent out a small shockwave, dissipating after it formed a small cloud of moisture due to the supersonic nature of the thrust. Luffy kept himself airborne, continually kicking out as he circled the now surprised Sea King.

"DID YOU HAVE TO DISTURB MY NAP? COULDN'T FIND ANYTHING IN THE SEA TO EAT?"

His only answer was a thunderous roar from his quarry below. Luffy squinted in annoyance.

"Geez! Just asking a question! You don't need to be so rude!"

Another roar.

 _'Oh well, it isn't like I was expecting a response.'_

 **"Soru: Razor!"**

Luffy's form blurred out of sight leaving behind another shockwave, this one bigger than before. Almost instantaneously, he appeared on top of the surprised creature's nose, chuckling as it went cross-eyed to keep him in its sights.

"I don't like you."

The creature literally went "HUH?" Cross-eyed and surprised, the look was alien on a creature of this size.

Poor Sea King.

Understandable, as its prey normally didn't strike up conversations while it hunted them. They were too busy screaming and howling and fleeing away as fast they could in the opposite direction.

Before it could respond in kind, Luffy had _slapped_ it across its nose.

Yep, it was a measly slap, but it contained enough force to _lift the colossal monster off the sea_ and make him go flying across the surface accompanied by a funnel of sea spray. For Luffy, it was akin to skipping stones on a lake. This one too went airborne similarly, throwing up large splashes of salt water, until it stopped and surfaced a good two hundred meters away.

Luffy followed him, picking his nose and still in mid-air.

"Eh, Gramps can do that with a finger flick. Guess I'm still not there."

In the midst of all this, Luffy's stomach gave a muffled growl.

"Oh well. Time to finish this."

The poor monster had no respite as Luffy somersaulted in mid-air, bringing a blurred leg down on its head.

Two things happened at that moment.

Above the surface of the sea, a muffled **boom** sounded as another huge burst of sea spray and foam was kicked up, drowning out all visibility within a good two hundred metres.

Below, the impact had sent the insensate creature rocketing down into the sea below, a massive trail of bubbles and froth trailing him into the depths.

Luffy kicked at the air, a hundred feet up. His stomach gave another growl. "That's that! Now I'm hungry! Where to go?"

He spotted a nearby PINK pirate vessel, emblazoned with an ugly duckling of a figurehead and hearts on its sails. It stood motionless, anchored.

"AHAA! FOOD! MEAT!" With another pressure-wave inducing kick, he jetted towards his target.

 ** _On said pirate vessel at the very same instant…_**

Eyes bulging, drool sliding down their opened mouths, the crew of _The Love Duck_ ; some seventy-odd souls stood numb, trying to gauge the spectacle they had just witnessed.

 _Just a scant few minutes ago, they had been enjoying their spoils from a recent raid. Their captain, the feared "Iron Mace Alvida" and their resident stowaway were below deck having lunch. Well one of them was, the other was probably getting scared shitless._

 _One of the crew had spotted a small craft being decimated by a Sea King and called the others. They had chuckled at the fate of the poor soul, when all of a sudden the sea king had been knocked away_ _ **like a puny insect**_ _. The rest of the happenings were just too otherworldly to be described._

 _The sight of the humongous creature getting manhandled by a person who somehow_ _ **flew**_ _was enough to knock them stupid._

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! He's coming this way!" One of said souls screamed, eyes still bulging out. The drool had somehow dried out.

Indeed, the tiny figure was rocketing towards them, airborne. Knowing they had no chance against _this_ monster, the deck erupted into a flurry of movement, everyone running around randomly like headless critters. Some chose to arm themselves, some chose to hide, making themselves as small of a target as possible. Ten of them climbed up into the crow's nest, stuffing themselves into the confined space. The monster couldn't possibly find them _here._

One very _wise_ soul had the presence of mind to call up their captain. If anyone stood a chance against the man, it was _another monster_.

"ALVIDA SAMA! Intruder!"

 ** _Above, on the deck…_**

Luffy landed gently on the deck. It was deserted.

"Huh? Anybody here? I'm looking for some food."

No one answered. "Hello?"

A terrified man, shaking from head to toe, was pushed out into the deck. It was like a sacrifice being offered up to some fiery deity. "W-W-What do y-y-you want?"

Luffy smiled ear to ear, his teeth glinting. "Nice to meet ya! My name's Monkey D. Luffy! I'm looking for some food. You have any?"

The man was close to sucking his thumb by now. "F-F-Food?"

Luffy frowned. Did this guy have a hearing problem?

"Yup. Food. You know. To eat? I'll have some meat, preferably." His smile stretched wider, teeth showing. His fingers gestured to his mouth in a parody of some sign language.

"AAAAAAAAAAHH! Cannibal!" The man was gone, jumping overboard as he left dust trails in his wake.

Luffy ran to the rails. The man was swimming away as fast as he could.

"Eh? What did I say?" Luffy scratched his head. Was this crew mad?

All of a sudden, a door opened with a crash as another man was shot out of it. He hit the opposite side of the ship and slumped, unconscious.

"WHO'S THE INTRUDER ON MY SHIP? TELL ME NOW!"

The speaker was an obese woman, as fat as a woman could get and still look like one. She had a cowboy hat perched on her massive head, and a gun clutched in her sash. She also held a mace in one hand, and – here, Luffy was forced to blink hard – a head of fluffy pink hair under the other arm.

Luffy blinked again, as the woman noticed him.

"WHO ARE YOU? HOW DARE YOU COME HERE? DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?!"

Before Luffy could reply, the whole hidden crew jumped out of their hiding places. Each was holding a sabre, or a cutlass, or a pistol or some implement of destruction. They were all shivering and shaking.

"Alvida-sama! This guy just came onto the ship!"

"He can FLY!"

"He killed a Sea King as big as ten of our ships with his bare hands!"

"He's asking for meat, and Rob was so scared that he jumped ship!"

"And now he wants to EAAAAAT USSSSS!"

"He's a CANNIBAL!"

Collectively they screeched. "WAAAAAAAAH! Save us Alvida Sama!"

Luffy chuckled.

 _'Oh. So they saw that? Now it makes sense.'_

Alvida blinked for a few moments. Then she smirked at her crew. Cowards. It was impossible to do what they had seen.

"Impossible! Are you all bloody mad? You're the crew of the Alvida Pirates, the strongest crew in the East Blue! It was all a mirage, you cowards. You're getting frightened by this" – she gestured at Luffy, who was by now chuckling openly – "nobody!"

Before anybody could reply, Luffy spoke up.

"I'm Monkey D. Luffy, pirate. Who're you calling 'nobody', fatso?"

The jaws of the pirates once again came undone by the audacity of this guy. The small bundle of pink struggled to hold in a gasp and a chuckle.

Luffy continued. "I just wanted to eat, but it seems there must be no food left, judging by your size." He looked at the pirate up and down, still smirking.

Alvida dropped the pink headed boy, who scrambled to the side. Her face was steaming red. "CREW, WHO'S THE FAIREST LADY IN ALL OF THE SEAS?"

Habitually, they replied. "YOU, ALVIDA SAMA!"

"Show this brat our greatness! Bring me his head!"

Emboldened by the words of the _great Alvida-sama_ , they charged, only to stop short.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Luffy was laughing like a maniac, holding his stomach and bent on his knees. Straightening up, he looked at the assemblage. "Before you do that, I've got a couple of questions to ask you."

"Huh?"

"One. Do you really believe that this fat tub of lard is the fairest woman in the seas?" He pulled out an old, crinkled WANTED poster out of his captain's cloak and smoothed it out.

"Look at this."

He brandished the poster at them. "This is the Shichibukai Boa Hancock. Also the captain of the Kuja pirates. Also known as the loveliest woman on the seas."

A few of the crew took a look and were promptly blown back by nosebleeds. Luffy chuckled, nodding. "Do you really think _this_ "- gesturing at Alvida, who was angrier than ever – " _beached_ _island whale_ can compare to _that_?"

Nobody dared to move, even if their hearts were saying " _NEVER!"_

Luffy put the poster back into his pocket. His smile had become more predatory, his eyes shadowed by his straw hat. The men nearest to him took a step back.

"And secondly, do you really think you, _a bunch of washed out East Blue pirates_ can take me on? Especially after seeing what I did to _THAT?_ " He gestured to the nearby sea, where sure enough, the bloated carcass of the massive Sea King was floating belly up, having surfaced after a while.

That was not a mirage by any means.

Alvida's eyes were wild, round and bulging. Coming onto her ship, lecturing her about being weak, scaring the crew and showboating about killing an obviously already dead sea king? Who did this bastard think he was?

She snapped.

Shaking herself, she recklessly charged Luffy.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH! DIEEEEEEEE!" She brought her trusty mace down on his head, aiming to splatter bits of him all over the deck. Only to be stopped by a finger. Yup, a single finger. The same finger poked a little harder, and her club shattered into small pieces.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Alvida-sama! Your mace!"

Luffy shook his head, his hand now around Alvida's neck, freezing her in place. "I warned you. Now, be GONE!"

He punched her in the stomach. Eyes protruding out of her skull, she folded into herself and coughed up a few drops of blood before she was sent flying way into the distance. She even pierced a cloud or two on her way.

Luffy laughed, turning back to the crew. "I can't be bothered by you guys. Just give me something to eat and I'll be on my way."

"FOR ALVIDA SAMA!" The crew charged him, (' _Damn it, don't these guys listen?' thought the straw hat wearing youth)_ only to be sent into unconsciousness by a sudden wave of concussive force emanating from Luffy, complete with frothing mouths and white eyes.

Finally he took a deep breath and smiled.

 _'I love Haki! Now for some food. Where to go?'_

He looked around, stepping over a body here and there, trying to find the pantry.

"S-S-Sir!" A small quavery voice spoke up.

"Huh? Who's there?"

' _Somebody survived Haoshoku? Here in the East Blue? Granted it was a controlled blast, but still?'_

A head of pink hair poked itself out of a stray barrel. Wide eyes were framed by round glasses as the terrified youth spoke again. Even now, his knees were knocking against each other.

"I'm C-Coby. I c-c-can s-show you the p-pantry."

Luffy eyed him. From the surface, he didn't seem like much. But to have survived Haoshoku…

Luffy nodded, still eyeing him closely.

 ** _A few minutes later…_**

Luffy was happily munching on some bread and meat. Plates were piled up in front of him as he ate a few heads worth of meat by himself. All the while, Coby watched him in amazement, a few plates of his own in front of him.

Luffy finished eating and wiped his mouth, sighing happily. Looking at Coby, he spoke up.

"What's a guy like you doing here amongst these losers?"

Coby's eyes grew large. _Huh?_

 _"_ W-What do you m-m-mean, s-sir?"

Luffy smiled jovially. This guy had buried himself underneath a _hell lot_ of self-doubt and pity.

"Stop being so scared. What's your dream?"

Coby's eyes widened further. His dream? This _strong-as-hell_ guy was asking about his dream?

"To be a marine, sir. To capture pirates like Alvida, sir." Luffy smiled wider.

"Good one. Then why are you _here_? Why aren't you out there, achieving your dreams? Especially a guy like you?"

Coby smiled a bit at the acknowledgement before his face grew ashamed as he related his sorry tale to Luffy. Memories of two years' worth of beatings, abuse and service to Alvida crashed down on him. His eyes started watering and his nose had started leaking again.

His little pity session was brought to an abrupt halt as Luffy again blasted him with the same amount of Haoshoku as he had earlier. Coby came close to fainting, but didn't. Luffy shook his head, aggravated by the foolishness of this guy. So much potential wasted.

"Shut up, Coby. You are worth ten of Alvida and her crew collectively, and look at you. I hate cowards like you."

Coby's wide eyed stuttering was brought to a halt yet again. "What was that? It's the same thing you used to knock out the crew."

Luffy nodded impassively. "Yep. Yet you were only the only one who retained consciousness. I can assure you that even Alvida would have been knocked senseless. What does that tell you?"

Coby froze, and then smiled tremulously. "I'm better than them. It means that I'm better than them."

Luffy stood and stretched his arms. "Yup. And don't you forget it. Now let's get going. Where's the treasure room?"

"What? Where?"

Luffy gave him slight smack that still had the little guy stumble a few paces away.

 _'Oops. Really have to control this strength of mine.'_

"Do you really want to remain here? Let me gather the loot and some more food, find us a boat and I'll drop you at the nearest marine base. You can get listed there."

 ** _An hour later…_**

Luffy and Coby were on a small rescue boat, sailing away from Alvida's ship with the still unconscious pirates on board.

"Ne, Luffy-san. What's your dream?"

Luffy smirked at the boy from where he was lying against his bag of loot and other essentials.

"Guess."

"Huh?"

"Guess my dream."

"To discover to the other seas?"

"That comes later."

"Huh? Then, to see Loguetown?"

"It falls on the way anyway…"

Coby's eyes bulged…

"Umm, to control East Blue?"

"Too small. And I'm not interested in ruling any one."

A look of realization had formed on Coby's face.

"You can't be serious."

Luffy laughed. "Yup. I want to go on adventures. I want to gather a crew, _nakama_ of my own. I want to fight other pirates."

Coby was slowly shaking his head while Luffy continued his monologue, his voice actually trembling with tangible passion now.

"I want to sail the Grand Line. I want to see the New World. I want to find the One Piece."

Coby was in full blown panic mode by now, "Nonononono, Luffy-san, no. You'll be killed! You have to be very strong! The Grand Line's known as a pirate's graveyard. Monstrous beings dwell there. You can't be thinking of goi-"

Luffy had pinched Coby's lips shut together and was shaking his head. "I want to be Pirate King, Coby. You don't think I know all that? Rest assured, Coby, I'll be going there, and soon you'll be too."

"Huh? WHAT?!"

"Honestly? Only weak-ass marines dwell in the four blues. You want to be a strong marine? You'll have to brave the Grand Line. The same goes for us pirates too."

Luffy stood up. Time to show off a little. "As for my strength, let me show you something. You see the ship there?"

Coby nodded, looking at his former prison in the distance. They were a good five hundred metres away.

"Watch."

Coby watched, astounded as Luffy began kicking into the air.

 **"Geppo!"**

As soon as he had ascended to a good distance away from the little rescue boat, Luffy closed his eyes, gathering and stabilizing himself, still kicking away.

 **"Armament: Internalization."**

A small concentric pressure wave emanated from Luffy as his musculature shifted and became more pronounced. His captain's coat fluttered, as it was buffeted by sudden winds. Below him, Coby watched on amazed, feeling a smidgen of heaviness in the air around him. It felt like a heavy blanket was smothering him.

Suddenly, the pressure magnified enormously. Looking up, Coby noticed the air around Luffy shimmer, like a heat haze. The same pressure was transmitted throughout the area, as the seas under Luffy parted and came together continually, forming little waves.

 **"YOU STILL WATCHING COBY?"** Luffy's usually gentle tenor had taken on a deeper timbre. **"Then watch this!"**

 **"Rokushiki: Twin Palm Kaze Rokuogan!"**

Luffy's hands shot forward to come together in an approximation of a flowering lotus, joined together at the wrists.

Almost immediately, the air pressure in the vicinity spiked massively and dwindled back into normal, producing a thunderous booming sound. With it, a bright blue lance of energy, intangible yet still visible rocketed away from Luffy. It was accompanied a sonic roar of massive proportions, tearing up and parting the seas a good fifty metres wide as it went.

Each particle of matter in the way was actually ionized, so prodigious was the force.

Coby was flattened to the surface of the boat as he watched the lance reach Alvida's vessel.

 **BOOOOOOOOM!**

Where there was a ship before, now nothing remained. The ship had disintegrated into chunks of wood and other assorted material.

Luffy materialized out of thin air, back in the boat, breathing a little heavily but nevertheless unruffled. Coby watched in wonder as wood fragments from the explosion rained around them.

"Still think of me as weak?" Luffy laughed as Coby remained speechless, shaking his head mutely.

Luffy nodded to himself.

' _Ok, this was better than the previous attempt. Have to keep improving.'_

"That was an example of what the Grand Line really is like, Coby."

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTT!"

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTES:**

 **Read and Review, please. Any and all suggestions are welcome.**

 **===X===**


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